Trumpet Vine for Marcia (Painting)

I finally finished this painting, and here it is, ready to be mailed next week to my long-lost friend Marcia.  I have been working on this painting since my last post on January 27th, almost a week ago.  At that point, I was expecting just a few minor changes but In fact I did a little more than that.  First, I kept working on the background, which was surprisingly complicated. In addition to showing the shift from light to shadow, I also needed to get the shifting hues in that wall:  pink and pale purple to red-orange to burnt orange to brown and purple. It took a while to get all that and still have smooth transitions. Once I got the background to work, I did more on the foliage and flowers, refining shapes and fixing mistakes.  And once the background was in place, I was able to use light and dark on the leaves to create a 3-D effect, with some of the branches seeming to come forward and some seeming to recede. As I did that, I repainted some of the foliage. Now I am happy with it and I am glad I kept going! After all, this is for my long-lost friend Marcia and I want her to be happy with it as well.